First Nations Forward

An Indigenous economy in B.C.: the new narrative. Produced in collaboration with the Real Estate Foundation of BC, I-SEA, Vancouver Foundation, McConnell Foundation, Vancity, Catherine Donnelly Foundation, Willow Grove Foundation, and the Donner Canadian Foundation. National Observer retains full and final editorial control over the reporting.

It's as if Chief Patrick Michell of the Kanaka Indian Bar Band has a superpower. With what appears to be a normal set of eyes, his vision stretches back to the last 8,000 years of his people and ahead, to a future of climate chaos and unshakeable hope.

B.C. First Nations appear poised to start taking back care of their own children, using their own culture and laws, as the number of Indigenous kids in foster care across Canada has reached crisis proportions.

Reporter Emilee Gilpin traveled to the central coast of B.C., to Nuxalk territories, to learn about the Nuxalk Nation's apprenticeship program. Here, she shares some of her personal experiences, travelling, questioning and trying to tell stories "in a good way."

They are creators, entrepreneurs, teachers and artisans, remixing tradition, creating pieces for ceremony, powwows, self-care and fashion — making the world more beautiful with every bead, shell and prayer-filled piece of work.

The Nuxalk Nation started their own apprenticeship program, taking the housing situation into their own hands, literally. Through the community-based program, which matches empowered Nuxalk apprentices with advanced skilled workers, the Nation is building their own homes again, as their ancestors once did, from the ground up.

A year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would set up an interim board of directors to establish a National Council for Reconciliation, his government picked Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild to chair that board.

First Nations have managed land protection and conservation since time immemorial and those ancient values have powered up the modern energy sector in B.C. By the end of 2016, 30 First Nations had operational solar, run-of-river, geothermal, wind, and biomass projects powering their communities and the province.